That’s all that needed to be said.
You see, almost every Masters Champion’s Green Jacket was accounted for; well,
all but arguably the most coveted of them all – the Green Jacket from the very
first Masters Champ, Horton Smith.

Tracking down Green Jackets has become a passion here at Green Jacket Auctions.
But when it came to Horton Smith’s Green Jacket, it’s not that the trail went
cold, it’s that it never even started. Augusta National didn’t have it. The
World Golf Hall of Fame didn’t either. In fact, no one we spoke with ever even
recalled hearing about it or seeing it – save for a couple dusty old photos of
Horton wearing it. Soon, our quest to locate and catalog the whereabouts of
every Green Jacket seemed destined for failure. We began to worry that Horton
Smith’s jacket may no longer even exist. After all, to many in the 1940’s, 50’s
and even later, it was simply “a” jacket – a commemorative garment given for
golfing prowess many years before. That garment didn’t become “The Green Jacket”
until decades later. Even in 1975, at the Green Jacket ceremony for the great
Jack Nicklaus, the garment was simply referred to as “the green coat” –
exemplifying its lack of reverence even then.

The Story

Without further ado, we present
Horton Smith’s Masters Green Jacket, complete with family provenance.

As it turns out, Horton Smith’s Green Jacket was with his family – just not the
family we expected. When Horton Smith passed away in 1963, the bulk of his
estate, including his Green Jacket, passed to his brother Ren Smith. When Ren
passed away, Ren’s 2nd wife inherited the jacket, which she later left to her
two sons, who still own the Green Jacket today. Now, since the jacket has just
been sitting in a closet for many years, the owners would prefer to sell the jacket and see it
find a fitting home in a museum or with one of our collectors.

The "Original 10"

Augusta
National first awarded the Green Jacket to Masters
Champions in 1949, beginning with Sam Snead, and at the same time retroactively awarded
jackets to the 9
former Masters Champs that had won the Masters from 1934-1948, including Horton Smith.
Those jackets are affectionately referred to as the "Original 10".

The offered jacket is that exact Green Jacket that was awarded to Horton Smith
in 1949 - the only one of the "Original 10" Green Jackets to ever be offered for
public sale.

Condition/Notes: The
jacket is in exceptional overall condition, with no important condition issues
to note. Jacket is a two-button single breasted model. Size 43L, Model 357X jacket. Two smooth brass
buttons on front of jacket, and single smooth brass button on each cuff. Amalgamated Workers 1949 Series tag. No manufacturer is
listed, though this is consistent with other known early Green Jackets that are
attributed to Brooks Uniform Co. Augusta National Golf Club & former Chairman
Clifford Roberts have both been quoted as stating that these original 1949 Green
Jackets were produced by Brooks Uniform Co.

Conclusion

Once believed to be lost forever, the offered original 1949 jacket is not only the supreme
Masters Champion Green Jacket ever offered publicly for sale, but it comes with
impeccable family provenance and unquestionable title of ownership. It goes
without saying that no "new" Green Jackets can be expected to enter the hobby
any time soon. Or ever.